Brave Heart
by Snowbert98
Summary: Themis, Capilos, and Cassius's father, Theseus, died defending their mother, Asteria, from a mugger. This experience triggered severe PTSD in Asteria, rendering her insane. She now lives in a home for insane people. On the fifteenth anniversary of the tragedy, the three siblings visit their mother in the home. But can Cassius bear his beloved mother not even knowing who he is?
1. Chapter 1

"Cassius, come on!" Themis called up the stairs. "Stop being such a baby!"

"NO!" Cassius screamed back. "I'm not going!"

Themis growled and slammed her fist into the wall. "I swear to Jupiter, if you're not down here in ten seconds, there will be no honeycakes for a year!"

A pause. Then Cassius yelled, "You're not Mama so don't pretend to be!"

"THAT'S IT!" Themis hollered, starting up the stairs. "YOU ARE DEAD!"

But her brother caught her wrist, stopping her. "Leave him," Capilos said gently. "It's a tough day for him."

"It's a tough day for all of us, Capilos!" snapped Themis. "And yet we're not behaving like-."

"Don't swear," Capilos pleaded.

"And yet we're not behaving like assholes," Themis finished, glaring at her brother. "Don't you dare tell me what to do! I'm older AND of a higher rank!"

Capilos sighed and retracted his hand. "Themis…"

Themis groaned and buried her head in her hands. "I can't believe I just said that…"

"Themis…" Capilos's voice changed from resignation to sympathy. He put his arms around his sister. "I know how hard this is for you. You're the only one who truly remembers our Papa, so-."

"It's really hard," Themis choked, trying her hardest not to cry. "It's been fifteen years and not a day goes by that I don't wonder if he would have been proud of me."

"Of course he would have been proud of you." Capilos smiled weakly and lifted the golden dagger from Themis's belt. "He gave you this. He used this throughout his eight year career as a legionary. It has seen much fighting and has killed many men, as you will too. Dad knew that, and that is why he gave it to you. It's not just a dagger; it's his blessing. I know he'd be so proud of the magnificent woman you've become."

Themis chuckled weakly. "Magnificent?"

Capilos nodded firmly. "Themis, you're the first female Optio ever. If that's not an achievement for women everywhere, and especially for yourself, then I don't know what is."

Themis nodded slowly. "But…what's the use of Optio if my younger, legionary brother doesn't listen to me?"

"Any other day, I'm sure he would," Capilos replied. "But while you feel most affected by our Papa's death, Cassius feels most affected by our Mama's condition. It hurts him so badly that she doesn't even recognise him anymore."

"And he thinks it doesn't hurt me?" snapped Themis.

Capilos shook his head. "No, Themis. Just let me talk to him."

Themis just shrugged. "Sure. Good luck."

Capilos smiled at her, then headed up the stairs to his and his brother's room. He gently knocked on the door. "Cassius?"

"I'm not coming out," came Cassius's stubborn voice from inside.

"Okay, that's fine. Can I at least come in, then?"

Capilos waited a minute but got no answer so he slowly opened the door and peered in. Cassius was lying on the bed on his side, his eyes staring numbly into space. Feeling a pain in his chest, Capilos moved forward and sat next to him on the bed. Hesitantly, he reached out and stroked his brother's arm. Cassius didn't respond to his touch.

After a moment, Capilos said, "Do you remember when you were eight, and Mama fell and hit her head on the stairs?"

Cassius didn't reply but his body tensed.

"We rushed her to the infirmary but the doctor said she'd be absolutely fine," recalled Capilos. "Then when we visited her, she seemed surprised that we were there. Themis told her that, no matter where she was or where we moved to, we would always visit her. Do you remember?"

There was still no answer but Capilos could feel his little brother trembling under his hand.

"We promised that, no matter what, we would always visit her," Capilos continued. "Whether it be in her home after we've moved away or a home for old people, or…"

"Or an insane asylum," Cassius croaked.

"…or a home for mentally damaged individuals," Capilos finished firmly. "She is not insane; she is mentally damaged. That's why she needs us."

"She doesn't recognise us!" Cassius cried. "She doesn't even know our names!" His voice cracked as he cried, "How can we help her if she doesn't even know us?"

"How can we help her if we don't even try?" Capilos asked softly.

Cassius fell silent.

Capilos resumed stroking his brother's shoulder. "We each have something to bring her, remember? You have those honeycakes you made, I have the poem I wrote, and Themis has the medal she received. Remember?"

Cassius slowly nodded.

"We can't let her down," Capilos said softly. "You know we can't. We're all she has left of Papa. And I know that there is some part of the old Mama left inside her head somewhere. We have to continue visiting her and helping her, and maybe one day, she'll get better. But we will never know if we don't try."

Cassius slowly sat up. He looked at Capilos, his eyes full of sadness and fear. His heart aching, Capilos brought his brother into a comforting hug.

That was how, a few minutes later, Themis found them. The anger inside her at Cassius disappearing, she slowly moved towards them and stood next to them. "We should go," she said gently. "We need to get as much time in with Mama as possible."

She and Capilos both looked at Cassius, who nodded and stood up. "I'll get the honeycakes," he said bravely, before leaving the room.

Themis twisted the medal around her neck. She looked down at the gold metal disk, with the words _Medal of Bravery, Optio Themis._ She had won the medal after she had bravely talked down a terrorist from murdering a room of sixty-two people, including General Octavius's siblings and nine senators. She had been given the choice between promotion all the way to prefect or a medal of bravery, and she had chosen the latter. She knew that she would get other opportunities to move up through the ranks, but Octavius did not offer medals of bravery very often. He had given maybe four or five in his entire career. That was why Themis had chosen the medal; it gave her strength to know that not only was she the first woman to receive a medal of bravery, but she was actually only the tenth person in the history of the Roman empire to receive one. It gave her so much strength and courage.

"Golden medal to go with the gold dagger," Capilos teased.

Themis self-consciously slipped the medal under her tunic.

"No, no, I didn't mean any harm." Capilos frowned. "Do not hide it. Be as proud of it as I am of you."

"You're proud of me?"

"Of course, Themis. When I watched Octavius put that medal around your neck, I could actually feel my chest swelling with pride."

Themis smiled. "Really?"

"Of course!" Capilos grinned. "My big sis; the first woman to receive a medal of bravery."

"Don't forget the tenth person overall to receive one," reminded Themis.

Capilos smirked. "Of course."

Themis brought the golden disk out from under her tunic, displaying it over her armour. "Do you have your poem?"

Capilos nodded and patted his pocket. "Yes."

"Good. Then I believe we are ready to go."

"Finally," Capilos snickered.

"Yes, finally."


	2. Chapter 2

All three siblings stopped outside the home, Themis with one hand on the door handle. It was a beautiful large house with a large garden and a lot of grass. There were many people out on the grass; some wearing staff uniform, others wearing the grey garb of the patients of the home.

Themis determinedly pushed open the door, but her brothers were frozen: Capilos staring down at the piece of paper in his shaking hands, and Cassius staring out across the lawn at an ornately decorated fountain.

Themis clapped her hands sharply to get their attention. Both her brother abruptly looked round at her and, murmuring an apology, followed her inside. They immediately encountered a nurse, who looked at them quizzically.

"We're here to see Asteria," Themis said to the nurse. "We are her children."

The nurse's expression changed. "Oh, I do beg your pardon. Right this way, please."

Themis, Capilos, and Cassius began following the nurse through the building.

"I remember you," Capilos said to her. "It's Clytia, isn't it?"

The nurse nodded. "That's right. I am the nurse for Asteria's ward. She…is a special case. She requires more care than anyone else. At the moment, she is sitting out in the garden. I've had cleaning to do but I've been keeping an eye on her."

Cassius tensed. Themis and Capilos both immediately took both of his hands in theirs, and he relaxed slightly at his siblings' support.

They reached the door leading out to the garden. Clytia pointed out towards the pond, around which a couple of wooden benches were set up. Asteria, dressed in the long, grey, silk dress that female patients wore, was sitting rigidly upright on one of the benches. A woman who looked like a priestess was sitting next to her, clearly attempting to talk to her.

"Good luck," Clytia said sympathetically. "I hope it goes alright."

The three siblings moved over to their mother cautiously. As they approached, Themis recognised Priestess Eunice as the woman in the robes. The Optio smiled and bowed her head respectfully as they approached.

"Good morning, Priestess Eunice," she said.

Eunice smiled back. "Optio Themis. Legionary Capilos, Legionary Cassius."

"How is she?" asked Capilos hesitantly, indicating their mother, who was staring straight ahead and had not acknowledged their arrival.

"I have not managed to get anything out of her," sighed Eunice. "Neither has my sister, Clytia. She has not spoken for a week."

"That is worrying," sighed Themis. "Can we talk to her?"

"You can try." Eunice stood up. "I will give you some time with her."

"We don't wish to chase you away-," Capilos began.

Eunice waved away his protests. "I was not planning to stay long, anyway. I was simply visiting Clytia and she asked me if I could try to get through to Miss Asteria."

"Thank you for trying," Themis said gratefully. "Anything may be able to get through to her."

Eunice nodded. "I wish you luck," she said, as she walked away.

The three siblings slowly sat down next to their mother, with Themis on her left and the two brothers on her right. After a few seconds of silence, Themis slowly took her mother's hand, smiling weakly. "Hello, Mama. How…How are you?"

Asteria continued staring into space and said nothing.

Themis swallowed down a sob and said, "C-Cassius brought some honeycakes for you, Mama."

Capilos gently nudged his brother, who brought the basket round and offered it to Asteria, who still did not move. Cassius took one of the honeycakes and placed it gently in Asteria's folded hands.

The three siblings held their breath.

After a few seconds, Asteria seemed to register the honeycake in her hands and slowly looked down at her, her eyes still gaunt. She was barely blinking as she turned the cake over in her hands. Cassius was filled with hope, until she just leant back on the bench and turned her head to look skywards, the honeycake discarded in her lap.

Cassius covered his mouth with his hand, tears falling fast down his face, and fled.

Themis inhaled shakily and attempted a smile as she took the medal off her neck and showed it to her mother. "L-Look, Mama. I saved sixty-two people's lives and g-got the medal of bravery for it. I saved nine senators and the g-general's two siblings. A-Are you proud of me, Mama?"

Asteria didn't say anything. After almost five minutes had gone by, Themis realised that she wasn't going to say anything, or even look at the medal. Trying in vain to choke back sobs, Themis pushed herself off the bench and raced in the direction her brother had gone in, leaving Capilos alone.

Capilos was not crying but he was extremely close. He took a deep breath and pulled out the crumpled piece of paper. "I wrote you a poem, Mama. It's going in the book of poems I wrote. Would…you like to hear it?"

No reply, but Capilos hadn't brought the poem here for nothing. "It…It's called _Your Own Mind._ " Clearing his throat, he lifted the piece of paper and read it aloud

 _Your Own Mind_

 _Lost in your own mind_

 _Light has gone forever dark_

 _You lost everything in one single moment_

 _One single moment forever burning in flames_

 _Flames engulfing your mind and heart_

 _Screaming voicelessly from inside your own head_

 _Lost forever inside your own head_

 _Unable to even tell your children you love them_

 _But they will never stop loving you_

 _Even though the flames inside your head_

 _Are also consuming them_

 _You give them strength, you give them hope_

 _The strength and hope to put out the flames like a leaking aqueduct_

 _They hope they can also put out the flames_

 _That are consuming your heart and memories_

 _And trapping you in your own mind._

Capilos's voice cracked halfway through, and by the end, he was a shaking mess. Hunched over on the bench, he grasped the piece of paper tightly in his left hand and covered his eyes with his right hand. He wasn't ashamed of crying; he just didn't want whatever was left of his mother to see him in such a way.

Then he heard a noise that made him look up. Asteria had left the bench and was walking towards a large bush full of blue flowers. After composing himself, Capilos got up and followed her.

Asteria stopped in front of the bush and bent down to reach inside it. Capilos was more than a little curious about this, but he was distracted by the blue flowers. They were blue orchids, Theseus's favourite flowers when he was alive. Asteria had picked hundreds of them the day after his death and had placed them all at the site of Theseus's death. It had warmed the family's hearts to see how many other people had also placed flowers there, not all of them blue orchids.

Asteria straightened up, and Capilos saw that she was holding a rather big blue orchid in her hand. Before he had time to wonder what she was going to do with it, she held out her hand towards Capilos, actually meeting his eyes.

"M-Mama?" Capilos swallowed, his eyes full of hope.

Asteria shook her hand slightly, indicating that she wanted him to take the flower, so he did. Sniffing the scent, he had a revelation: Asteria had remembered that the family loved blue orchids and had picked one for Capilos. Even though she couldn't speak, she was telling her son that she loved him. The blue orchid signified her love, coming from the part of his mother that was still there inside her head.

"I love you, Mama," Capilos croaked, feeling more tears springing to his eyes.

Asteria slowly opened her mouth. The word "blue" came out of it, but nothing else. Asteria then turned and walked away, but Capilos knew the trip hadn't been a waste. Somehow, something had gotten through to her.

There was hope.


	3. Chapter 3

The library was unlocked but empty. Cassius had no time to wonder why; he had work to do.

He regretted not coming in here more often; now he had the needle-in-a-haystack task of finding books about psychology amongst books about cows, aqueducts, fertilizer, and even an entire series of about eleven books on the history of Rome. Eleven books that were literally scattered throughout the entire library.

Cassius sighed as he dug out two books: one about horses and the other about the farming of potatoes. Julius REALLY needed to sort out his library; Cassius couldn't find anything of use here.

Finally, he found a single book on psychology. But it was entitled _"How To Tell When Your Significant Other Is Cheating On You",_ which could not be more unhelpful.

Cassius growled and tossed the book aside.

"Hey," called a voice suddenly. "Some people worked hard on that, you know."

Cassius spun round, recognising the voice.

Lyssa's face changed. "Oh, you're Cassius, aren't you? You're the little brother of the woman who saved my life."

The legionary slowly nodded. "I didn't mean to abuse your book. Sorry."

Lyssa shrugged. "Eh, it's trash anyway. I didn't put much research into it. In fact, Julius only put it in his library because he knew he could make money charging paranoid men and crazy women to borrow it."

Cassius didn't know what to say to that. "Okay. Do you know if there are any books on psychology here?"

"What kind of psychology?"

"Curing insane people."

Lyssa blinked. "That's quite specific, but alright. I can help you find one."

"Thank you."

As Lyssa went over to a shelf to start looking, she looked over her shoulder at Cassius, who was beginning to look on another shelf. "So who are you trying to cure?" she asked casually.

"My…mother," replied Cassius, pulling another book off the shelf.

"Oh…" Lyssa hesitated. "What happened to her?"

"My father died defending her from a mugger when I was nine. Witnessing that as well as coping with the loss of my father…" Cassius swallowed down a lump in his throat. "Let's just say she couldn't handle it too well."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

Cassius shrugged bleakly. "It is what it is," he said, remembering what Capilos had said to him. "But I can't just visit her every once in a while. I have to do something to help her out of this condition but I don't know what."

"Hence the books on psychology?"

"Hence the books on psychology," sighed Cassius.

Lyssa hesitated. "Sorry, Cass, but I have to go now. I was only looking for Julius quickly before I went to dinner with Octavius."

"That's okay," Cassius said, though he was a little disappointed. "I can carry on looking by myself."

"Are you sure?" Lyssa asked hesitantly. "I feel like I'm letting you down."

"You're not," Cassius assured her. "Go."

Lyssa smiled weakly. "I hope you find what you're looking for.

"Thanks. So do I."

Cassius watched Lyssa leave, then he went back to searching.

An hour later, he had still found no books on psychology. He knew it was a long shot, but it still hurt. He had failed Asteria. He would never be able to help her now. She'd be lost in her own mind forever…

Cassius dropped to his knees and curled up in a ball, finally allowing himself to cry loudly and freely, letting everything out. He had bottled everything up for too long and now it was finally coming out. His chest, throat, eyes, and head were aching but he continued to cry and shake in the library.

After about ten minutes, he felt someone lift him into their arms and hug him. Thinking it was Themis, he blinked blearily and looked up at their face.

It wasn't Themis.

It was Julius.

Mortified, Cassius scrambled out of Julius's arms and crawled away from the tribune, trying his hardest to wipe the tears from his eyes and calm himself down.

"You know watching that is more humiliating for you than watching you have a breakdown, right?" Julius asked, crossing his arms.

Cassius almost froze but he forced himself to keep going. The door was almost within reach.

"Cassius."

After getting no reply again, Julius growled and stormed over to the door, shutting it before Cassius got there. "Hey!" Cassius snapped.

"Cassius, please," Julius said gently, kneeling down in front of him. "I want to help you."

Cassius looked away. "You can't help me."

"Yes I can." Julius hesitated. "I may not be able to help with your problem, but I can make you feel better."

"How?" Cassius asked miserably.

Julius got up and disappeared upstairs.

Cassius sighed and curled up in a ball on his side. He couldn't believe Julius of all people had witnessed such a humiliating event. What if he told Themis or Capilos? They'd think he was a baby and they'd treat him more like a child than they already did. And Themis would go berserk with worry. Cassius really didn't need that.

A few minutes later, Julius came back down the stairs with a cup. Cassius sat up and leant against the wall as Julius gave the cup to him, who discovered that it was filled with a strange brown substance.

"What is this?" he asked suspiciously.

"It's tea," replied Julius. "The nightguard Larry got it for us. It's a hot drink that helps calm you down."

Cassius cautiously took a sip. The taste was extremely bland, despite the obvious few pinches of sugar, but Julius was right; it was hot and it was helping Cassius calm down.

"I'm guessing you don't want Themis or Capilos to know about this," Julius observed after a few seconds.

Cassius slowly nodded.

"In that case, why don't you stay in the room upstairs?" Julius asked. "Just for the night, I mean. You can sleep upstairs and I'll come and get you in the morning and you can make sure you're ready to go back to your siblings."

Cassius stared at Julius, half-suspicious, half-touched. "Why would you do that for me?"

"Because I've been in your position before," Julius replied. He gave his leg a tap with his cane. "This was the cause of many breakdowns during my life. In fact, it still gives me grief now. But I refused to let people help me and I suffered for it. I didn't even let Septimus or Octavius help me. And I suffered. I don't want you to suffer like I did."

The legionary looked away. "I…I appreciate it.."

"Absolutely no problem, Cassius. Do you want to go upstairs now?"

Cassius nodded wordlessly, so Julius helped him stand up and supported him as they climbed the stairs together.

"J-Julius?"

"Yes, Cassius?"

"…thank you."

Julius smiled. "No problem."

…

 **Capilos is the property of Mythicalnightguard. I own everyone else.**


End file.
